Calgary is often nicknamed the Texas of the north. Like its southern counterpart, the city’s economy has long been closely tied to oil and energy. With over 1.3 million people, Calgary is one of Canada’s largest cities. Its downtown, packed with skyscrapers, was more impressive than I would have thought!
Downtown Calgary
Calgary was first settled in the 1870s and became a city in 1894. Buildings like the Grand, founded in 1912, are about as old as you’ll find here! The building became a center for performing arts, protests, and even political rallies. It almost met its end in the early 2000s due to its aging infrastructure. In 2005, more than $12 million was raised for its restoration, and since 2018 it has called itself the Grand.
I kind of hate myself for not doing more in Calgary. I was here for several days but was hit by the lazy bug for whatever reason. I didn’t really do anything touristy and ended up going out a lot to local bars and restaurants, along with a few random walks around the city. These two photos are also from downtown: one of the city’s trains above and a blurry photo of pedestrians below.
Winter in Calgary
Something a bit unique to Canada when I was walking around were warning signs for falling ice. I suppose living in a colder climate and having ice falling off buildings makes sense, but unless you’re constantly walking with your head straight up, I don’t really see how it can be avoided. What I also liked about Calgary was that several of the buildings were internally linked by walkways like the one below. That’s one way to avoid falling ice.
The Bow River and Peace Bridge
One thing I did was spend some time along the frozen Bow River and cross Calgary’s Peace Bridge. The bridge opened in 2012 and is sometimes nicknamed the finger-trap bridge because of its appearance. There were a fair number of pedestrians on it, and even more Canada geese.
I saw some impressive flocks that included maybe two dozen geese flying in a V formation. They always seemed to be flying sideways or at an angle that I couldn’t capture, so the best I got were these four!
